“Who on earth did that last night?!”
Early in the morning, Prince Geller’s roar echoed through the Random Magic Guild’s castle.
Ye Chui, Debbie, Reza, and Silas, all seated at the breakfast table looking thoroughly hungover from the previous night’s palace banquet, appeared listless and weary. Hearing Prince Geller’s bellow, Ye Chui rubbed his ears and said helplessly, “Look at us. Do we seem like the type who went out causing trouble? Not long after you left last night, we all went to bed. What happened to make you so angry?”
“The Dome Palace was blown up!” Prince Geller declared furiously.
“The Dome Palace? What’s that place? I’ve never heard of it before.” Debbie immediately played dumb.
Prince Geller glared at Debbie in annoyance. “Sister Debbie, don’t pretend you don’t know. The Dome Palace has been around for over a hundred years. You once dragged me there in disguise as a man, only to be recognised at first glance!”
Ye Chui and the others all turned to Debbie with strange expressions. Damn, Debbie had a history like that?
“Oh my?” Debbie herself jumped in surprise, as though she had forgotten. She tapped her forehead with her hand. “I got completely drunk last night. Oh, now I remember there was something like that. Heh heh heh… The Dome Palace, ah, those were the days…”
Prince Geller stroked his beard as he watched Debbie feign ignorance. He was old enough to clearly recall events from just a few years ago for him, yet she claimed amnesia? She was obviously guilty! He turned to Ye Chui. “What exactly were you doing in Mole Forest?”
“It really wasn’t us. You’re wrongly accusing us, Prince Geller.” Ye Chui said with utmost sincerity.
Prince Geller stared hard at Ye Chui, as if trying to spot cracks in his expression, but eventually gave up. He huffed and prepared to leave. At the dining room door, he remembered something, turned back, and grabbed two steamed buns from the table, unique delicacies only available here at Ye Chui’s place, invented by Ye Chui himself and quite delicious. Only then did he depart satisfied.
Though Prince Geller appeared furious, his mood was actually rather good.
A place like Mole Forest was hardly honourable, yet essential. He could tolerate its existence. But after last night’s events, he had heard that the Cullin family and Church members tried to enter Mole Forest and seemed to value it highly. This immediately alerted him to some hidden secret there. Ye Chui and his group had not simply been messing around.
These youngsters were masters at playing dumb. Getting a confession out of them was impossible.
Outside the guild, a Black Armoured Guard immediately approached and whispered something in Prince Geller’s ear.
After the explosion last night, Prince Geller, intending to cover for Ye Chui, had promptly sent Black Armoured Guards to secure the Dome Palace. After a night of digging, they discovered several believers’ corpses beneath the collapsed ruins, including Caesar Cullin of the Cullin family. Caesar’s existence was not widely known, but the Black Armoured Guards were well aware of him.
Additionally, they found traces of a damaged dark altar underground. It seemed those believers had been summoning something evil, only for it to be destroyed.
Hearing this report, Prince Geller took a deep breath and looked meaningfully towards the castle. “So Mole Forest hid the Cullin family and Church’s evil dealings… These kids went and wrecked their dark altar last night. Were there any survivors at the scene?”
“The Dome Palace manager, Lady Rose, has been captured, but…”
“But what?”
“She seems to have gone mad, gibbering nervously and constantly making ‘eeyaya’ sounds. The others captured with her are the same. It appears they suffered some kind of mental attack, leaving their nerves in a state of extreme tension.”
“…”
Another of Ye Chui’s tricks?
“Find a specialist realm mind magister to examine them. If they can be restored, interrogate them thoroughly!” Prince Geller ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
As the Black Armoured Guard withdrew, Prince Geller’s frustration completely vanished. He climbed into his carriage and began enjoying the steamed buns he had taken from Ye Chui’s table. Mmm, this food really was excellent. Perhaps it should be promoted widely?
…
After Prince Geller left, Ye Chui had Grean fetch the Third Prince and Honeygo from the side room where they had been hiding.
Honeygo was still somewhat weak but mostly recovered and expressed boundless gratitude to Ye Chui and his group. The Third Prince vowed firm support for Jacob henceforth.
He had never been particularly interested in the throne anyway. Finally, Ye Chui suggested Honeygo stay at the castle, where the Third Prince could visit anytime. This served to protect her, as the Church and Cullin family’s chosen vessel for Original Sin, she would be safest here at Ye Chui’s castle. More importantly, Ye Chui needed Honeygo to keep the Third Prince in check and prevent betrayal.
The Third Prince had no objections to Ye Chui’s arrangement and agreed readily.
Thus, from that day forward, Ye Chui’s castle gained a professional songstress…
…
News of the Mole Forest explosion quickly spread throughout the imperial capital, but with Prince Geller’s intervention, the incident was successfully passed off as a sudden earthquake that just happened to strike Mole Forest, just happened to completely collapse the Dome Palace, and just happened to drive Lady Rose and others mad from fright…
Few believed this explanation, of course, but the truth was buried. Only a select few knew what really occurred.
The summer sky was clear and cloudless, the air slightly hot, cicadas droning endlessly.
Behind the Random Magic Guild castle, what had once been a graveyard of tombstones had been cleared by Ye Chui and transformed into a swimming pool. He lay peacefully on a deck chair, enjoying the refreshing cool of summer. Jacob and Dani were absent; as a prince now, Jacob had much to learn. Governing a nation was no simple matter. He spent his days at the palace, studying under the old emperor, with Dani by his side.
Reza, Silas, Debbie, and Guni splashed and played in the pool. Beneath a nearby magic locust tree, Serti was playing with the baby.
When leaving the secret realm, Ye Chui had offered to craft a body for Serti, but she refused. The secret realm and death realm were special; undead could persist there indefinitely, but in the outside world they would gradually corrode. A body was unnecessary and could not last. She preferred existing as just a head.
As for her original body, in her words, unless the God of Gods personally intervened, no one could restore what the devils had destroyed.
But as the Headless Knight, Serti was long accustomed to existing as merely a head. According to her, in the early years of the gods’ rise, she had countless times accidentally lost her body and had to mail her head home…
Now, saying Serti was playing with the baby was inaccurate; the elf baby was using Serti as a ball, tossing and catching her head repeatedly, finding endless joy in it and laughing brightly. Serti seemed to enjoy it too…
What a remarkable head.
For Serti, the undead ferryman from the age of gods, the mysterious aura Ye Chui had first sensed upon meeting her had long vanished. She was essentially a god-tier clown… very relatable.
On this serene summer afternoon, Ye Chui sipped a cold drink, savouring rare leisure while pondering matters.
Destroying the dark altar in Mole Forest had dealt a heavy blow to the Cullin family and Church. Next came the magical beast Jores family… Ye Chui already had a plan. He had coordinated with Boslie; she would assist in attacking the beastman family.
As for the method…
…
At that very moment, Boslie appeared outside the Random Magic Guild.
After overeating upon leaving the secret realm yesterday, she had rested at the Church. Both the Black Bishop and Red Archbishop Eliza had questioned her about what happened inside, but she brushed them off. Feeling better today, she left the Church for Ye Chui’s place.
Their plan to take down the magical beast family together was about to begin, but first she had something else to settle.
This time, Boslie had not come for Ye Chui, but for Grean…
Standing at the guild gates, Boslie looked somewhat dejected.
Her feelings for Grean had deepened greatly in the secret realm. She truly liked this boy who pursued her. But the most beautiful memories must end when necessary. As the Phase King Magister, she bore immense pressure and expectations. By Magic Guild tradition, to preserve her bloodline, her marriage had long been decided. She and Grean could never continue.
So she hoped their relationship could end beautifully.
She had come to find Grean for one proper date, then completely sever their feelings, leaving no regrets.
For this date she had specially donned the most fashionable long dress in the Star Empire and applied exquisite makeup. Already a beauty, she now looked stunningly gorgeous.
Ye Chui had set various traps around the guild, but they posed no obstacle to Boslie. She entered without triggering anything and found Grean training in the front gardens under the blazing sun.
Grean was drenched in sweat but continued shirtless, repeatedly casting space magic to make his teleportation faster and more precise.
Boslie smiled as she approached and invited him on a date.
He would never refuse if she came to him personally, she thought confidently. Yet…
“I’m sorry, I have no interest in dating right now. I just want to focus on honing my magic!” Grean replied.
“…Huh?”
Boslie was stunned. “You’re rejecting me? Rejecting my date invitation? You… you’re not mistaken, are you?”
“I now find romance and such utterly boring. Miss Boslie, I apologise for pestering you before. Let us end things here.” Sage Grean said calmly.
Boslie: “…”
Holy crap, I’ve been rejected?
The grand Phase King Magister rejected by an ordinary magister?
“Miss Boslie, I need to continue training. Please do not disturb me further.” Grean said politely, resuming his space magic practice.
“…”
Looking rather dishevelled, Boslie wandered dejectedly out of the guild. Glancing back, she could still see Grean’s figure. Her expression was one of utter defeat, mixed with anger.
Finally, she muttered furiously to herself, “The honour of a Phase King Magister is inviolable (how many times has this happened now?)… Reject me? I, I absolutely won’t let this go. Just you wait. I’ll make you fall head over heels for me again, then dump you hard!”
A proper date to end things beautifully? She had completely forgotten that idea. Now she only wanted to chase Grean relentlessly, make him utterly obsessed with her, then ruthlessly dump him. Only then would her anger be satisfied…
